Articles:LCS Week Four NA Power Rankings

North America LCS Week Four Power Rankings

Seven weeks of regular season round robin matches remain. Teams still have ample opportunities to create, practice, and showcase their strategies and counter-strategies. Dynamics between challengers will undoubtedly fluctuate wildly, and we are banding together each week to decipher their cryptic power struggle. Welcome to the Leaguepedia Fantasy NA LCS Week Four Power Rankings.

Curse remain undefeated after three weeks of LCS competition. Their revised training method which prioritizes honing personal skills over devising team-specific counter-strategies has proven deadly. Curse's only week three match, against Good Game University, epitomized their combined individual skills and teamwork, which are quickly becoming their hallmarks in the Season 3 NA LCS.

Curse’s six marks in the plus column have not been mere wins; they have been conquests that practically erase their opponents from the Fields of Justice. Their season-long combined KDA of 7.6 and average of 1.7k GPM reveals a more complete picture regarding the extent of their victories. A case in point: in their match against GGU, Curse concluded with a nearly 17k gold advantage, a 14-3 kill-death ratio, and a 11-1 turret destruction ratio. Until these stats change, Curse will probably continue to top our NA power rankings.

Dignitas have yet to drop a game since week two when something awakened the sleeping giants. There appears to be no logical reason for the sudden change. Perhaps Draven has commandeered Imaqtpie's body in order to rearrange the space-time continuum with a metaphysical mustache meld. No matter the cause, Dignitas’ four win streak and 5-2 record has silenced many critics - especially considering that their opposition included Team SoloMid and Counter Logic Gaming.

Dignitas’ lone week three match against rivals CLG showcased scarra's incredible Kayle and provided yet another chance for Imaqtpie to strut his Draven 'stache. CLG had no answer to the dynamic playstyle of this potent Dignitas duo who ended the game with a combined KDA of 14/4/19. Dignitas' barrage of superior team fight skills brought CLG to their knees, but their winning performance was by no means without hiccups. Crumbzz made moot scarra’s heroic rescue efforts with a clumsy mid-jungle recall that needlessly granted Dr. Mundo’s meat cleaver a chance to find its mark. Nevertheless, Dignitas can look forward to week four as an opportunity to challenge Curse for their spot in the rankings penthouse.

Team SoloMid's overall record of 4-2 and Counter Logic Gaming's disappointing week three allow TSM to jump up one spot nip at second place Dignitas’ heels, even after a week three bye. However, the bulk of TSM's wins have come against newcomers who struggled in the early weeks. The deluge of matches in week four may provide the perfect opportunity for them to catapult into contention for first place. On the other hand, week four’s matchups might reveal that TSM’s impressive win-loss record has been a fluke.

TheOddOne, Xpecial, and Dyrus have performed extremely well thus far in the NA LCS, with an impressive combined 26/31/146 KDA. Despite currently ranking as the fifth highest GPM earner in the NA LCS, Reginald has thus far been a missing link in the TSM chain. Historically, TSM relies on his strategies to net wins. Yet, it remains to be seen whether Reginald can suit his and his team’s tactics and playstyles to the Season 3 meta. TSM’s roster may be strong enough to eke out a few more victories as is, but Reginald will need to evolve and find his Season 3 A-game if he wants to keep TSM in the top half of the ladder.

Counter Logic Gaming staggered from third place down to fourth place after week three with a dismal performance that brought them to an overall record of 3-3. Their first match against Vulcun was expected to be a blowout in their favor. Instead, CLG underestimated their opponents. Vulcun slammed the brakes and claimed an upset victory. Match two against Dignitas added salt to the wound as their rivals capitalized on CLG’s weaknesses. Dignitas claimed victory after 35 minutes of back and forth. Even Doublelift underperformed with only five kills as compared to his five deaths and four assists. CLG rebounded with a scarily close victory against compLexity. Tying at 16 kills with the bottom-ranked NA team is not good enough.

This season could become increasingly difficult for CLG if they cannot find a way to integrate their talents and individual play-styles into the Season 3 meta. Vulcun’s strategies to shut down the Aphrolift duo may be an indication that the days of “protect the Doublelift” are nearing an end. As a result, CLG likely need to adjust their playstyle to rely less on Doublelift because of Season 2 changes in the ADC role. LiNk and HotshotGG can help compensate by finding kills and other ways to make an impact.

In week three, Vulcun stepped out of the shadows of mediocrity and into the limelight with three consecutive triumphs which pushed them two places up the ranks and gave them an overall 3-5 record. After battling out a victory over Counter Logic Gaming, Vulcun dominated compLexity and score a lopsided victory over MRN. Over the course of week three, Vulcun surrendered only 10 deaths and netted a perfect no-death performance against compLexity.

Their revitalized display was a testament to Vulcun’s skill - if and when they can find strategies to utilize it. Of particular note is mandatorycloud who swapped into his abbreviated “mancloud” mode to find kills all over the map with his painfully accurate Nidalee spears and Lux lasers. He completed the week with an impressive 14/2/8 KDA ratio. In addition, Vulcun’s jungler, Xmithie, garnered the honor of MVP. It is difficult to say which Vulcun will show up in week four – the timid shrinking violets that went 0-5 for the first two weeks or the deadly assassins who went 3-0 in week three. Vulcun’s first match of week four is versus CLG, which could work in their favor by giving them the chance to replicate their first match of week three.

Team compLexity succeeded in earning their first victory in the NA LCS and closed out week three with a record of 1-3. The win allowed them to hold onto to their number six spot. Their brawling win over GGU was not pretty. However, it was GGU’s Nexus that fell in the end, and that’s all that matters for their win-loss ratio . Solid performances by Nickwu and Chuuper point to a hopeful future for compLexity, if they can keep the fire burning.

For compLexity, week three was a tale of two Nickwu's. After sitting in the top lane anonymously farming away in the match one loss to Vulcun, Nickwu decided that enough was enough. His swap to Shen for matches two and three allowed him to find kills and make plays which radically changed the outcomes of multiple team fights. Despite coL’s losses to Vulcun and CLG, Nickwu went 15/7/20 (with only one death occurring in the first match). Team compLexity are not yet ready to tackle Curse, but they are definitely improving. They might sneak in a few more surprises during week four.

MRN blitzed into their first victory of the NA LCS with impeccable style that helped them climb out of the basement into the number seven spot with a 1-3 overall record. These fan favorites struggled to find their footing during the first two weeks of the LCS, but their perfect 11-0 victory against Good Game University showed that they are now on solid ground. MRN can take solace in notching up a win despite losing their second match to Vulcun. Hopefully they can bring that morale boost into the frenzy of week four.

MRN's success over GGU may have been largely due to their more conservative approach to the match. However, a ferocious Renekton performance by MegaZero significantly contributed to their win. After a tense but bloodless start, MegaZero risked everything with a Crocodile-first dive into GGU. The surprise attack gave MegaZero multiple kills and signaled the beginning of his reign of terror. The match ended with 11 kills and zero deaths for MRN - nearly half of those kills were MegaZero's.

Week three was a string of discouraging losses for Good Game University which resulted in a three spot tumble down the ranks. In their first match against Curse, GGU only found three kills in more than 30 minutes of playtime. Their second match, against MRN, found GGU at the wrong end of a perfect 11-0 game. To add insult to injury, GGU lost their last match to the (formerly) last place compLexity. GGU was essentially the sacrificial lamb in a week that saw three of the bottom-tier NA teams grab their first victories.

GGU’s 1-6 record makes it abundantly clear that Shiphtur's delay in returning to the NA LCS has been absolutely devastating. In week one, GGU played competitively with the best of NA, posting narrow losses to the triumvirate of CLG, Curse, and Dignitas. However, without Shiphtur, GGU has suffered defeats at the hands of everyone from compLexity to MRN. ZionSpartan is not a weak mid laner, but GGU desperately need the leadership and ability coordination that Shiphtur brings to the team if they hope to exit of the basement of the rankings.

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